The platform, which is closely linked to the successful multimedia software itunes, was intended to offer its members the opportunity to exchange information about music and learn about their favorite artists. Although many apple customers signed up after the launch of ping, they then hardly participated at all.
"Ping is available from 30. September no longer available," apple announced on thursday night. New members were no longer accepted.
Above all, the lack of integration with the global online network facebook had ensured that the service remained a little-used niche offer. Originally, ping was supposed to get a facebook link, but that didn’t materialize. Facebook has set unacceptable terms, apple founder steve jobs told the blog "all things D" in 2010. In the first two days after its launch, one million users signed up, but interest quickly plummeted.
The new apple boss tim cook signaled the imminent end of ping as early as may of this year. Users had made it clear that they did not want to invest much energy in ping. "We will stop it? I do not know. I will think about it," cook said at the time. Apple does not have to have its own online network to be active on the social internet.
Relations between apple and facebook have now improved significantly. As with twitter, apple has also integrated central facebook functions into its ios operating system for mobile devices. In the next version of the multimedia software itunes announced for next week, musicians will also be able to share photos with their fans directly.